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GTA Played By More Than 70 Percent Of Teens
cdneng2 writes "This Yahoo!/Reuters article indicates that more
than 70 percent of American kids have played Grand Theft Auto. The study also
indicates that those who played are more likely to be in fights. It's a good thing the
authors cautioned that this study did not prove a link between game
violence and real-life
behavior." The Gallup poll editors specifically and sensibly advised: "The data can't demonstrate causality - boys who are more prone to fighting may simply be more attracted to violent video games."
Yeah, point taken. I've been feeling a bit queasy about quite so many game violence article, too. We'll see if we can't cut them down somewhat in the future (or at least post round-ups).
For once the article about violent video games informed the reader that there was no causality. Usually you have to look to the /. comments to find that out, if you didn't already know it. At least someone out there has a little bit of common sense.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
First, let me say that I have *not read* the article mentioned in the article. I don't have enough time right now to go through that, but I do consider myself having enough time to chime in on the debate, which is essentially the old "Is GTA3 corrupting our nations youth?" argument that's been going on since the game was released.
And, let me say that I have never played GTA3! I have a Gamecube. I've never had a PS2, and I sold my X-Box as soon as I got my fill of ToeJam & Earl 3. (Very underrated game, actually, but I digress.) So naturally I'm *hopelessly* unqualified to say anything on this subject, right?
Well... of course, I would say no. I've been around enough to know that the furor over GTA3 is just another interation of the old Mortal Kombat furor, which is itself a repeat of the furor over a truly old game called Death Race 2000 (which as near as I can tell is not a movie tie-in).
What I know about GTA3 is all hearsay, but all the reputable sources of information seem to agree. That being:
- Casual attitude towards killing.
- Player can hire a prostitute to regain health.
- After "doing it" with a prostitute, player can then kill her. (A lot of people reference to this, so it must be an important part of the game.)
- Didn't you just hear what I said? Killing whores!!
- Oh, and brilliant level design and gameplay, pah.
Okay, on to the point. In fact, I have had the chance to play GTA3 but I passed it up because I found the attitude behind it disturbing. "Mature" in the videogame world has its sole meaning in the MPAA's definition of Mature, which is, guns, swear words and tits. It's true that you can do a lot of things in the game world, there is a lot of player freedom, and that you don't technically have to do anything immoral, but the game's interface is biased towards doing reprehensible things. When you can collect such an extensive inventory of weapons, you can't help but feel the push towards shooting.
It's true that whenever I play an RPG with any sort of difficult moral choice, I do feel a bit of emotional weight over the decision. While I play, I lose some of the sense that it is "just a game," because playing it "right" requires so getting into the story. One of the defenses thrown up for GTA3, however, is that it's just a game. My point is, if it's any good, it's not.
And also, GTA3, while obviously not a direct cause of murders, *is* yet another example of the slow and steady push of our culture towards violence, which has difficult-to-gauge effects. You don't need to reference a hundred half-assed Lieberman-studies to see that.